| 释义 |
sharp practice
1. Work that demands brisk activity. rare.
In some debating societies, applied to a debate intended for practice in readiness of speech, the rule being that each member must speak when called upon, on a subject proposed at the moment.
1847J. Paget in Mem. (1901) 157, I..see from 180 to 220 patients on each of my days—sharp practice for a beginner.
2. a. Hard bargaining; relentless pursuit of advantage. b. Now in more unfavourable sense: Dishonourable taking of advantage, trickery. (Cf. sharp a. 3 e.)
1836Dickens Pickw. (1837) xx. 209 ‘Dodson and Fogg—sharp practice their's—capital men of business is Dodson and Fogg, Sir.’ Mr. Pickwick admitted the sharp practice of Dodson and Fogg. 1845C. M. Kirkland Western Clearings 42 His ‘law studies’..were comprised in six months' ‘sharp practice’, as clerk to a gentleman who had quitted the shoe-maker's bench for the law. 1847Helps Friends in C. i. viii. 142 The sharp practice of the world drives some logic into the most vague of men: women are not so schooled. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 306 Their fondness for trickery and sharp practice. 1914Wodehouse Man Upstairs 182 He could not say exactly that it was sharp practice on Owen's part. 1944‘Brahms’ & ‘Simon’ Titania has Mother ix. 95 ‘Sharp practice?’ said the Fairy Peaseblossom. ‘Oh no, ma'am. Just diplomacy.’ |